Kallen looked at Ron, then at the copper coin in his hand.
So,
you stole the money that old woman spent all day looking for?
And Puer and I nearly lost our lives last night because you couldn't keep your hands to yourself?
But from another perspective,
an employee of his family had stolen someone else's property while working. It seemed perfectly reasonable for the owner to come looking for the "young boss" of the family business.
However,
that raised a question.
Was that old woman actually a Bewitching Otherworldly Demon?
If she was, why had she ended up lying in the morgue as an unclaimed corpse?
If she wasn't, did that mean her transformation had been caused by this copper coin? In other words, could this coin mass-produce Bewitching Otherworldly Demons?
But looking at Ron's current vacant, slack-jawed state,
Kallen really couldn't compare him to the old woman from last night, who could employ supernatural means and possess corpses.
Was it because Ron hadn't been in contact with the coin long enough? Or had the old woman already been something other than an ordinary person before she died? Was that why the changes the coin caused in them were so different?
For now, there was only one thing he could be certain of: something was definitely wrong with this copper coin.
Kallen remembered Puer mentioning something called a "Sacred Artifact." Ordinary people had to undergo "purification" to become Divine Servants, and that purification required the aura of a Sacred Artifact.
So "Sacred Artifact" was merely a label, not necessarily a reference to a holy object. Just as Puer had said, were Otherworldly Demons and Clerics essentially the same?
"My money... my money... my money..."
Ron was still drooling and muttering.
"Ron, what's wrong?" Paul seemed to have noticed that something was off.
Kallen raised his hand, intending to return the coin to Ron so he would temporarily return to normal.
Ron worked for the family and wasn't going to disappear. Besides, they were almost home. Kallen could call Dis as soon as they arrived. All it meant was letting Ron enjoy carrying his "copper coin" a little longer.
But,
when Kallen was about to hand over the coin,
a powerful reluctance suddenly welled up inside him.
The feeling was difficult to describe...
If you found a penny by the roadside, handing it over to a police officer would be easy.
But if you found a gold brick, even if you ultimately handed it over, you would certainly struggle with the decision first.
No matter how upright or principled someone was, as long as they were human, they would have greed.
Kallen drew a breath, steeled himself, and pushed the coin back into Ron's hand.
Ron immediately smiled, his expression returning to normal as he kissed the coin.
Kallen, meanwhile, felt a wave of loss and emptiness.
I only held it for a little while, and it's already affected me this much?
This coin's power is truly astonishing.
It's only copper, for heaven's sake. It isn't worth anything!
The hearse finally reached their front door. The last group of mourners was leaving, and the day's visitation had ended.
"Whose funeral was it?" Kallen asked Paul.
"Old Darcy's today," Paul replied.
"Old Darcy?" Kallen paused. "Who paid for his funeral?"
Old Darcy had family, relatives, and friends, but clearly, no matter how much extra money a crematorium worker had skimmed off, his family wouldn't be willing to pay for a funeral at the Immerlis Family's establishment.
Mrs. Hughes, the last person to say she would arrange a grand funeral for Old Darcy, was now considered a fugitive by the police.
"Mrs. Hughes's property was confiscated. The Crematorium Society is being prepared for auction, and the rest of her assets are being used to compensate the victims first," Paul answered.
Uncle Mason, who had just switched off the engine, looked back. "We're considering buying the Hughes Crematorium."
"What's the price?" Kallen asked.
"We don't know yet. In a couple of days, I'll take the officials handling the auction out for a meal and ask how much they want under the table. Who actually goes straight to an auction and bids these days?"
Paul and Ron lifted Kallen out of the comfortable coffin and placed him on the Stretcher Cart.
"Kallen?"
A familiar voice rang out. It was Piaget.
He wore a somber formal suit today, evidently having come for Old Darcy's funeral.
"Old Darcy did collect Linda's ashes for me, after all, so I came to pay my respects. I also heard you were being discharged this afternoon, so I waited a little longer."
Piaget's smile was as warm as ever, his voice gentle.
"One, two, three!"
Paul and Ron lifted the Stretcher Cart out of the hearse.
Ron accidentally dropped the coin he was holding, and it rolled onto the ground.
For a moment, Ron started to let go so he could grab the copper coin.
Fortunately, Uncle Mason, standing nearby, quickly caught the stretcher. Otherwise, Kallen would have tipped over right outside his own home. If his wound had reopened, he would have been sent back to the hospital before even making it through the door.
Piaget bent down and picked up the copper coin.
"Mine, mine, mine," Ron kept saying as he approached Piaget.
Piaget handed the coin to Ron.
What puzzled Kallen was that Piaget's expression hadn't changed at all when he gave it away. He still wore the same warm smile.
Yet Kallen had only held it briefly himself and had felt a distinct sense of loss.
So,
was it because Piaget was too rich?
Was finding a penny or a gold brick by the roadside really no different to him?
"My copper coin, my copper coin." Ron cradled it against his chest as though holding a baby.
After helping Paul set the Stretcher Cart safely on the ground, Uncle Mason walked straight over and kicked Ron down. Even then, Ron kept the coin clenched tightly in his fist.
"Have you lost your mind, Ron?"
Ron seemed unaffected. He merely gave Mason a foolish grin.
Uncle Mason gritted his teeth but said nothing more. With a dark expression, he helped Paul wheel Kallen into the house.
Piaget removed his hat and said goodbye to Kallen.
"I'll visit you again in a few days. Get plenty of rest."
"All right, Piaget."
The Stretcher Cart was pushed into the living room. Taking it into the basement would have been easy; they could simply roll it down the ramp.
Fortunately, Paul and the others didn't fall back into their professional habits this time.
They carried Kallen's Stretcher Cart up to the third floor and wheeled it into his bedroom.
Lunt, Mina, and Chris had school today. Since Old Darcy's funeral was a fairly modest affair, there had been no shortage of help, and the three of them hadn't needed to take the day off.
Once Kallen was settled in bed, Aunt Mary came in with snacks and water.
"My dear Kallen, you've really suffered. Now that you're home, get some proper rest. If there's anything you want to eat, just tell me."
Because of the incident with Mrs. Hughes, Aunt Mary felt genuinely guilty toward Kallen.
"Aunt Mary, Grandpa's home, right?"
"Yes, he is. He's in the study." She smiled as she spoke. She knew Dis cared deeply about this grandson, but his dignity as an elder kept him from personally welcoming Kallen home. "I'll go get him."
Before long,
Dis appeared in the doorway.
Kallen wasted no time, not even on greetings, and said directly,
"Grandpa Ron has a copper coin he stole from the old woman's corpse in the hospital morgue. That Bewitching Otherworldly Demon last night was probably looking for it. I held it for a little while and could feel it drawing me in. The coin is still on Ron!"
"Hiss... whew..."
Kallen had delivered the entire explanation without pausing.
He didn't want to waste time only for Dis to go downstairs and discover Ron had already left work, leading to all sorts of complications and trouble.
Dis didn't delay either. He turned and walked straight out.
About two minutes later,
Ron entered Kallen's room. Dis followed him in and shut the door.
"Sir, did you need something?" Ron was still a little puzzled. Even if they were discussing work, surely that should happen in the study. "I just slipped up earlier. I feel terrible about it too. It won't happen again."
Ron could only assume someone had reported his mistake while carrying the young master.
"Ron, give me that copper coin."
"The copper coin?"
Ron took the coin out of his pocket but kept it clenched in his hand.
"Give it to me," Dis said.
Dis carried considerable authority.
Ron drew a deep breath and finally, slowly, opened his hand.
Dis reached out and took the coin.
As Ron watched the coin leave his possession, his gaze gradually grew vacant again.
"My money... my money... my money..."
Muttering, he made to snatch the coin back from Dis.
While examining the coin, Dis caught Ron by the neck with his other hand and squeezed. Ron dropped to his knees in pain. Pinned down by one of Dis's hands, he lost the ability to resist, and his nose began to run as though he were suffering drug withdrawal.
"How did this end up here?" Dis asked, puzzled.
"What is it?" Kallen asked curiously.
"The Lax Church's Source of Sin."
"Source of Sin?"
Calling money the source of sin wasn't entirely unreasonable, though it was somewhat one-sided.
Dis had no intention of keeping anything from Kallen. At the hospital that day, he had said that once Kallen's wounds healed, he would tell him everything he wanted to know.
"The Lax Church has many followers on the Eastern Desert Continent. They advocate enduring suffering in this life to seek liberation for the soul in the next. They require their followers to live simply and remain indifferent to material possessions beyond what they need to survive."
Hearing Dis's explanation, Kallen wasn't surprised by the Lax Church's doctrines. He didn't even find them unusual.
Apart from a few extreme exceptions, most major orthodox churches had catered to the needs of the ruling classes when they were founded, emphasizing patience and obedience among the lower classes and wearing away sources of instability within the social order.
The Lax Church was a fairly typical example, following the opposite path from the Berry Church.
Dis gently rubbed his thumb over the copper coin.
"According to legend, True God Lax was deeply troubled that his people's temptation by wealth had led to endless warfare. So, when he was dying, he cast a Bronze Coffin adorned with Nine Demonic Serpents.
"He then ordered his followers to gather the sources of sin in this world and smelt them into nine Source of Sin coins, which were sealed inside the Bronze Coffin along with his body."
As Dis spoke, Kallen searched his memories-or, more precisely, the previous Kallen's memories.
"Lax's treasure?"
"Yes." Dis nodded. "Many people imagine Lax's burial place as a hiding place for mountains of treasure. That idea also appears in the plots of many novels and films."
In the previous Kallen's memories, there was an adventure novel in which the protagonist discovered Lax's tomb and found the treasure, only to trigger Lax's curse.
Dis sat beside Kallen's bed and placed the coin in front of him.
"That's mainly because, in the Lax Church's account, the arrangements True God Lax made before his death look very much like someone gathering treasures to be buried with him. In reality, what Lax collected and sealed inside the Bronze Coffin was human greed. That greed became nine coins, rather than mountains of tangible wealth.
"But looking at it now, True God Lax's vision was too idealistic and simplistic. Even if he truly gathered and sealed away all the greed in the regions inhabited by his followers at the time, greed would continue to grow, and grow just as quickly."
"Then this copper coin is one of Lax's nine Sources of Sin?" Kallen asked.
Dis shook his head. "No. If it were one of those nine, it wouldn't affect only the person holding it. Wherever it appeared, it could draw an entire city into a frenzied scramble for it, making people slaughter one another over it.
"This was probably made by a highly accomplished priest of the Lax Church who imitated True God Lax, gathering greed before his death and refining it into a coin to be buried with him.
"It serves a similar purpose, but its effects and influence cannot compare with True God Lax's work.
"My guess is that the priest's tomb was robbed, allowing this coin to circulate. Its age is probably impossible to determine now.
"Of course, it still exerts an extremely powerful beguiling influence on ordinary people. After all, very few ordinary people have mental defenses strong enough to withstand the impact of enormous wealth.
"And even if they can maintain their sense of self at first, keeping it close for a long time makes it easy for its influence to seep into them. Eventually, they begin affecting one another, perhaps even merging.
"It is a 'Sacred Artifact.' If placed within the Order God Church's classification system, it wouldn't rank low."
"What are you going to do with it, Grandpa?"
"I'll turn it in. Sealing it away at home wouldn't be safe. Once I hand it over, it will be properly secured."
Hearing that it would be turned in, Kallen felt an inexplicable pang of regret.
It wasn't the pain of losing money. Rather, with an "item" possessing special effects-or a "Sacred Artifact"-he always felt it was better to keep it nearby. Like a squirrel hoarding pine cones, whether it was useful or not, keeping it made him happy.
But Grandpa was right. If something happened while it was kept at home, he might return one day to find:
his uncle, aunt, other aunt, and all his cousins sitting there blankly, repeating,
"My money... my money..."
Just imagining that scene sent a chill through him.
"Then why was the Bewitching Otherworldly Demon last night so powerful?"
Ron still looked like a vacant fool. Kallen didn't think letting him carry the coin for another ten or fifteen days would give him the terrifying abilities that old woman had possessed last night.
"She was a fortune-teller. When I examined her body in the morgue, I found some tattoos. She was probably an itinerant fortune-teller, one of the Chaseans."
The previous Kallen's memories included knowledge of the Chaseans. To Kallen, this ethnic group seemed very much like the Romani. They were a wandering people who primarily made their living in three ways:
fortune-telling, theft, and prostitution.
There was also a small Chasean settlement in Rojia City.
Kallen's memories even contained an incident from two years earlier. A Chasean husband had ridden past him on a motorcycle with his wife while Kallen was walking home alone from school. The husband had kindly asked whether Kallen wanted to try out his wife's skills.
Kallen had been frightened and fled home, his autism worsening further.
"So it isn't only church Clerics who can possess special abilities?" Kallen asked.
"Who told you about these things?" Dis asked.
This already touched on the question of a "system."
"Alfred told me."
"The Clerics of the churches are the mainstream," Dis explained. "Sometimes, mainstream doesn't even mean the majority. It means they can stand openly in the sunlight. In fact, quite a few groups, and even individuals, don't belong to any church but have their own unique inherited methods. They, too, can possess what you call... special abilities."
With that, Dis looked down at Ron on the floor:
"Order... purge!"
Lying in bed, Kallen saw a white light flare around Dis's index finger. Then Dis pressed his fingertip to the spot between Ron's brows.
Ron's body began convulsing violently, while wisps of black mist rose from his mouth and nose.
Dis said, "Excessive psychological dependence is also a violation of order."
Seeing this, Kallen really wanted to ask Dis whether this "Spell Art" could also be used to quit nicotine.
Ron stopped convulsing and began to snore;
but Dis slapped his face a couple of times.
Smack! Smack!
Poor Ron was jolted awake by the pain.
"Sir, what happened to me..." Ron had clearly forgotten some things. Or perhaps the copper coin had already monopolized his attention earlier, leaving him in a daze, almost as if he had been dreaming, or had blacked out after drinking too much.
"Go home and sleep. No dozing off the next time you come to work."
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again. It won't happen again." Ron immediately scrambled to his feet and left the room.
Working for the Immerlis Family paid very well and was easier than working in a factory. He really couldn't bear to lose the job.
After Ron left, Dis dropped the copper coin into the glass of water Aunt Mary had poured for Kallen earlier. It struck the water with a clear clink.
"When you were telling me about Ron just now, you spoke very quickly, and very urgently." Dis pointed to his ear, though he also seemed to be pointing to his mind. "If I weren't still in possession of my faculties, I might not have understood you at all."
Kallen smiled and said:
"I just think that when something is urgent and necessary, you should get it all out as quickly as possible, without wasting a moment, to prevent anything unexpected from happening. Otherwise, if something really did happen, it would feel... pretty stupid.
"Oh, no, Grandpa, I wasn't talking about you."
Dis nodded, pulled out the chair beside the desk, and sat down facing Kallen.
"Then I won't waste any time either. I'll tell you about yourself right now.
"Which way would you prefer?
"I talk and you listen, or you ask and I answer?"
"You speak first, Grandpa. Once you're finished, I'll ask my questions."
"All right."
"I killed your parents with my own hands..."
Before you continue